Growing up, the horizons of beauty and what is sexy were not as broad as they are today. I neither had long voluminous locks nor child bearing hips. Instead my parents genes graced me with broad shoulders, flat feet, chubby fingers and a flat pancake booty. It’s taken me years to understand myself and find my body “feminine.” When you’re subjected to comments like “ you don’t look very girly” or “ your upper body is quite large” you stop being able to tell yourself “I️ am beautiful the way I️ am.” You start to scrutinize and say “ my boobs are too big, my thighs touch, “I️ don’t look petite."

Being a woman who's not petite is quite possibly one of the hardest things to overcome. Indian society is extremely BRUTAL and degrading, especially when it comes to physical appearances.

My first experience of what I️ like to call “innocent, unintentional racism” was when I️ was 15 at my very first job. I️ lived in Arizona, and despite the excruciating heat and palm trees decorated with lights I️ was determined to invoke a little NYC Christmas spirit into my life. I️ decided my first job would be as an Elf on the Santa set at the mall. It was great, my boss let us work as much as we could, we snuck pretzels under the register, children screamed, vomited and snotted on me, and overworked and underpaid parents screamed at me but I️ loved it.

One day, during a busy Saturday evening, I️ stood in my red apron guiding the kids to Santa and placing them on his lap. As one child is up next, I️ hear him telling his mother that he knows that this is not the real Santa and that she’s lying. The mother, doe-eyed asked, “Well, honey why on earth do you think he’s not Santa,” and the sweet boy responds, “Because Santa don’t have brown elves!”

Fine lines and wrinkles ? I’m all too familiar.Thanks to hours in front of my laptop and years of atopic eczema and variations of chronic dermatitis, I, in my early 20’s, suffer from fine under eye lines and wrinkly lids. While I have yet to find a cure for this, I have found a home remedy that has decreased the depth, visibility and reoccurrence of my wrinkles!

Tell your man or woman to get you some ROSES because baby, you’re going to need a bouquet!

It’s that time of year! The grocery shopping never ends and neither do the school bake sales, friendsgivings, secret Santa’s or gift exchanges.

As a kid, I️ LOVED bringing my friends treats for every holiday and my birthday. And when money was tight and the $0.99 store was within walking distance, I️ learned to be resourceful. I’d start by hoarding my mom’s Trader Joe or other pretty grocery store bags post her shopping excursions. Then I’d make my way to the dollar store and pick up some standard thin glossy ribbon.

This DIY craft project is perfect to do with the your kids during the holiday season, or even for various holiday events! This year I intend on making a handful and filling them with travel-sized toiletries for a local shelter- get creative!

Do you know how you ALWAYS wish you had listened to what your mama told you when you were young? “Don’t wear foundation too young,” she said. “Don’t rub your eyes, you’ll get wrinkles." “Wash your hands every time you come from outside.” (I know you don’t do it EVERYtime either, don’t judge me!)

Well, I️ may not have listened to Mama every time, but I️ sure do employ her wisdom now. Like any Indian mother, my mom was always in the kitchen and would come out with some gnarly looking stuff on her face. None of that, “pretty green monster “ stuff. I’m talking real (sometimes smelly) goop.

Now before y’all start booing and ewwing, hear me out, one of the key ingredients that I️ don’t see promoted in western media is one of my holy grail kitchen to skin products; licorice root. #Canigetahollaforadollahoney!

Not only is this ingredient easy to find in any South Asian grocery store under the name of “Mulethi” it’s also fairly inexpensive and is essentially magic. I’m not kidding.

I am ALL about the wellness train that defined 2017. I am not, however, the most well-versed on spending hours peeling, chopping and blending my nutrients into instagram- worthy mason jar smoothies. I used to be a start-my-morning-with-a-cup-of-coffee kind of girl, until I discovered my morning elixir 3 months ago, life hasn’t been the same.

It all started when I was traveling to India after all the mosquito born viruses were on a rise. I was essentially tired of inhaling chemicals and putting deet filled repellents on my skin. Naturally, I consulted the internet gods, did my research and found the trifecta that would soon be my holy grail; grapefruit, lemongrass and citronella essential oils. Shortly after finding the most effective natural remedy for bug repellent (not one bite!), I decided to invest in a cheap diffuser just too see what all the buzz was about

I’m not one to jump on the hype train y’all, with that said, essential oils have LITERALLY changed my life.Continue

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The views expressed on curlynikki.com belong to the blogger Nikki Walton and do not necessarily reflect the views of TextureMedia, LLC, NaturallyCurly or their affiliates or any of the brands discussed or featured on curlynikki.com.